Did you know that there is a strong historical connection between the celebration of Mother's Day and The Battle Hymn of the Republic? Julia Ward was born in 1819 in Boston and later married Samuel Gridley Howe who was active in the abolition movement and other reforms. She is perhaps most well known for penning the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in November of 1861, a few months after the start of the American Civil War. Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was initially published in the February 1862 edition of The Atlantic Monthly and since that time has been recognized as one of the most popular American Patriotic songs.

In 1870 following the carnage of the Civil War, historians credit the first American celebration of Mother's Day as being initiated by the publication of Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation. In her Proclamation, Howe charged Mothers throughout the world to unite in a call for peace and the celebration of motherhood. The Howe celebration was initially observed on June 2nd; but never became widely adopted beyond a handful of larger cities. Several years later, building on Howe's Mother's Day proclamation, a West Virginia women's group led by Anna Reeves Jarvis vegan to celebrate an annual Mother's Friendship Day, in an attempt to heal some of the deep division bought about as a result of the Civil War. Following the death of Anna Reeves Jarvis, her daughter asked the superintendent of St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia to honor the legacy of her mother with a Mother's Day Celebration and on May 10th, 1908, the first official Mother's Day celebration took place. From that point the tradition spread and in 1912, West Virginia became the first state to officially recognize Mother's Day. President Woodrow Wilson later signed a proclamation in 1914 naming the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

On May 12th this year we will celebrate Mother's Day which also coincides with the celebration of National Nurses Week in honor of the birthday of Florence Nightingale who is recognized as the founder of the modern nursing movement. We can all learn a great deal from the legacy of Florence Nightingale and the founders of the Mother's Day Celebration. In responses to the ravages of the Crimean war in 1854 and the Civil War in 1861, these incredible women led a movement to call for peace and to attend to the physical spiritual and emotional needs of those devastated by the ravages of war. Hospice of the Valleys celebrates their legacy this Mother's Day and National Nurses Day as a time to reflect on the love and dedication of those who have devoted their lives in the service of others.